COLLEGE BASKETBALL: DAY TWO OF THE NAIA AND NCCAA NATIONAL TOURNAMENTS, DAY ONE FOR THE NJCAA

*** NAIA ***

DAY TWO GAME ONE – The (unseeded) OKLAHOMA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY EAGLES trailed the 12th seeded MORNINGSIDE COLLEGE MUSTANGS 19-6 early on but, powered by their three-point shooting the Eagles came storming back. OWU led 39-31 at Halftime but a 16-5 run by the Mustangs kept everything tight throughout the 2nd Half. In the end the Eagles completed the upset, defeating Morningside College 76-72. 

DAY TWO GAME TWO – OWU’s team of Eagles may have survived but luckily for everyone who is fed up with the overused team name Eagles the 5th seeded INDIANA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY WILDCATS prevailed over the (unseeded) REINHARDT UNIVERSITY EAGLES. The Wildcats led Reinhardt 38-30 at the break and pressed down on the accelerator in the 2nd Half, dominating on both sides of the ball for an 82-67 win. Four Eagle teams down, just two more left! (I don’t count Cornerstone because they have the cooler name of Golden Eagles)

DAY TWO GAME THREE – Both the 4th seeded CORNERSTONE UNIVERSITY GOLDEN EAGLES and their opponents – the unseeded NORTHWEST CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY BEACONS – had a player who scored 33 points in their hardcourt clash. Wes Hudson for the Golden Eagles and Austin Kuemper for the Beacons racked up those numbers but only one team could win of course. That team was Cornerstone who converted a 35-32 Halftime lead into an impressive 84-68 victory over the Beacons, who were making their 1st ever National Tournament Appearance.

DAY TWO GAME FOUR – The (unseeded) FRIENDS UNIVERSITY FALCONS tackled the unlucky 13 seeds – the NORTHWEST (FL) SEAHAWKS in a game that was strictly for the birds (see what I did there). After an offensively explosive 1st Half for both teams the Seahawks went into the locker room leading the game by a score of 40-36. However, Northwest found it could not contain the Falcons at all in the 2nd Half. Friends University tossed in 54 more points to win this exciting upset shootout by a score a 90-85.

DAY TWO GAME FIVE – The 14th seeded UNIVERSITY OF SAINT FRANCIS (IN) COUGARS thought they had the game won against the hard-fighting (unseeded) ROBERT MORRIS (IL) EAGLES. Instead a 3-point buzzer beater tied the game at 62-62 and sent the already exhausting, physical affair into Overtime. Slamming defense was the theme for the OT session as well, with RMU advancing in a 69-66 Instant Classic.  

DAY TWO GAME SIX – The 3 seeds – the INDIANA UNIVERSITY SOUTHEAST GRENADIERS – had their hands full last night with the (unseeded) TABOR COLLEGE BLUE JAYS. The upstart Blue Jays were playing virtually basket for basket for the entire game with the Grenadiers, the NAIA runners-up in 2013. A 43-36 Halftime lead for IUS was false security as Tabor fought til the bitter end with the Grenadiers advancing by their fingernails in a 77-75 outcome. 

DAY TWO GAME SEVEN – The 11th seeded SAINT THOMAS (FL) UNIVERSITY BOBCATS and the (unseeded) UNION (KY) COLLEGE BULLDOGS were practically glued to each other scorewise throughout the entirety of their roundball Ragnarok last night. If you took the amount of time the two teams weren’t either tied or within one or two points of each other it would barely fill a couple of full timeout breaks. At the midway point the Bulldogs led 37-36 but after 20 more minutes of microscopically scoring it looked like Overtime lay dead ahead when a 3-pointer gave the Bobcats a 75-72 triumph. 

DAY TWO GAME EIGHT – Closing out the night last night was this game that set a new record for total points in the National Tournament AND lasted through Double Overtime. The game pitted the (unseeded) WILLIAM PENN UNIVERSITY STATESMEN against the 6th seeded DORDT COLLEGE DEFENDERS. The Statesmen held a 49-38 lead at Halftime, starting the usual discussions about whether the Defenders were choking yet again or if their opponent was simply better than advertised. With one minute left in Regulation Dordt came back from 7 points down to send the game into Overtime tied at 99 apiece. The first OT session ended with a 108-108 tie but in the second Overtime the Statesmen at last emerged with a 118-116 victory.   

*** NCCAA DIV TWO ***

DAY TWO GAME ONE – Day Two tipped off in the National Tournament for Division Two of the NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) as well. The action started with the 2nd seeded ARLINGTON BAPTIST COLLEGE PATRIOTS taking on the 7th seeded NORTH CENTRAL UNIVERSITY RAMS. The Rams had advanced in Wednesday’s opening round but were knocked into the Consolation Bracket by the Patriots in an 89-72 affair.

DAY TWO GAME TWO – Another game, another chalk-dictated outcome. In this tournament matchup the 3rd seeded LANCASTER BIBLE COLLEGE CHARGERS played the 6th seeded GRACE UNIVERSITY ROYALS. When all was said and done it was a double-digit triumph for the higher seed as the Chargers defeated the Royals by a score of 79-65.

DAY TWO GAME THREE – Finally -three games into Day Two the NCCAA National Tournament has delivered its first upset of this 2nd Day of play. The 5th seeded GRACE BIBLE COLLEGE TIGERS managed to surprise the 4th seeded WEST COAST BAPTIST COLLEGE EAGLES. Congratulations to the Tigers for costing the Vegas bookmakers millions (I’m kidding) with their hard-fought 81-69 toppling of the Eagles.  

DAY TWO GAME FOUR – The top seeded defending champions, the OHIO CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY TRAILBLAZERS squared off against the upstart 9 seeds – the PENSACOLA CHRISTIAN COLLEGE EAGLES. The Eagles were hoping for a second upset in as many days but the Trailblazers would have none of it. By the time the break arrived OCU held a commanding 38-22 lead and, though PCC would rally furiously in the 2nd Half, the Trailblazers retained enough control of the game to advance by a final score of 69-63. 

CONSOLATION BRACKET – Round One’s losing teams – the 8th seeded VALLEY FORGE CHRISTIAN COLLEGE PATRIOTS and the 10 seeds – the KUYPER COLLEGE COUGARS – faced each other in this first consolation game. The theme of teams called Patriots winning continued as Valley Forge Christian College won out by a 10 point margin – 94 to 84.

*** NCCAA DIV ONE ***

CENTRAL REGION – Division One of the NCCAA continued their Regional Championship round yesterday. In the Central Region the 3rd seeded MIDAMERICA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY EVANGELS manhandled the 6th seeded CENTRAL CHRISTIAN COLLEGE TIGERS to the tune of 79-53   ###   Meanwhile the 2nd seeded COLORADO CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY COUGARS advanced over the 7th seeded CROWLEY’S RIDGE COLLEGE PIONEERS  67-51   ###   And in a 4 seed over 5 seed outcome the DALLAS BAPTIST UNIVERSITY PATRIOTS defeated the OKLAHOMA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY EAGLES.  

MID-EAST REGION – The semifinals for this region tipped off yesterday. The top seeded BLUEFIELD COLLEGE RAMBLING RAMS outperformed the 4th seeded HIWASSEE COLLEGE TIGERs by a comfortable margin of 83-67.   ###   And the 2nd seeded UNION (TN) UNIVERSITY BULLDOGS eliminated the 3rd seeded TENNESSEE TEMPLE UNIVERSITY CRUSADERS by an even more comfortable margin of 98-71.

SOUTH REGION – The top seeded SOUTHERN WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY WARRIORS and the 4th seeded COLUMBIA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY RAMS faced each other in the first semifinal from this region with the Warriors winning by a score of 87-71.   ###   And the 2nd seeds – the CARVER COLLEGE COUGARS – bounced the 3rd seeded BOB JONES UNIVERSITY BRUINS in a 76-64 affair.

*** THE WEST REGION ALREADY COMPLETED ITS CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND LAST WEEK AND THE POINT LOMA NAZARENE UNIVERSITY SEA LIONS WON THE REGIONAL TITLE *** 

*** NJCAA ***

DAY ONE GAME ONE – The defending national champions, the BROOKDALE COLLEGE JERSEY BLUES, played the LINCOLN COLLEGE OF NEW ENGLAND WILDCATS. The Jersey Blues were obliterating the Wildcats at Halftime by a score of 48-27 but coasted a little too much in the 2nd Half. Lincoln College of New England was able to claw back to within 1o points by the end of the game, leaving the final count at 81-71. The Jersey Blues have still lost just ONE game this season.

DAY ONE GAME TWO – And in the second game of the day the EASTFIELD COLLEGE HARVESTERS, the 2013 runners-up , found themselves facing the ANOKA RAMSEY COLLEGE GOLDEN RAMS for the right to advance. A 46-33 Harvester lead at the break ultimately turned into an 88-73 final score. Eastfield College’s Ricardo Artis redefined the expression “6th Man” by scoring 31 points off the bench. In defeat Trent Pollard led the Golden Rams with his 21 points.

 DAY ONE GAME THREE – The CALDWELL TECH COBRAS and the HERKIMER COUNTY COLLEGE GENERALS did battle with each other as tournament play continued yesterday. This game seemed like it would turn out to be a lot more competitive than the other two thus far had been. At the Half the score was a tight 38-35 in favor of the Cobras. The 2nd Half saw Caldwell Tech getting more and more separation between themselves and the Generals however, resulting in an 82-65 Caldwell victory. LJ Jackson of the Cobras led all scorers by a wide margin with 30 points. 

DAY ONE GAME FOUR – The ROCK VALLEY COLLEGE GOLDEN EAGLES managed an upset of their Day One opponents, the NASSAU COUNTY COLLEGE LIONS. A 48-30 Halftime blowout in favor of the upstart Golden Eagles turned into a closer affair in the 2nd Half, but ultimately the Lions were handled pretty thoroughly by Rock Valley College. The Golden Eagles advanced by a final score of 83-72. On the losing side Jaleel Charles led both teams with 27 points, followed closely by RVC’s Frank Cimino with the 26 he tossed in himself.